1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to route planning methods and related navigation systems, and, more particularly to route planning methods and related navigation systems that provide fast route re-planning.
2. Description of the Related Art
Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has been widely used in navigation systems of various electronic devices, such as portable devices and electronic devices in cars to receive signals from GPS satellites. Accordingly, the position of an electronic device with a GPS receiver therein, can be determined according to responsive positioning signals between the electronic device and the satellites. Users may also use navigation software in the electronic device for route planning and navigation.
Generally, when users desire to move from a starting point to a destination, the navigation software may plan a suggested route therebetween, according to a specific algorithm for guiding the users in a particular direction. Meanwhile, when users deviate from the calculated particular direction, a route re-planning process will be activated to plan a new route from the new position of the electronic device to the destination. The operation for the route re-planning process, however, has to consider various factors, such as distances between two points and the complexity of surrounding roads, such that the operation may be time consuming. In such a situation, before the route re-planning process is completed, users may have already traveled in a wrong direction be lost.
It is therefore an important objective to shorten the calculation time for the route re-planning process.